Latino Group Vows Anaheim Protests Over Police-INS Ties

An immigrant rights group Tuesday gave Anaheim officials 30 days to break the Police Department’s ties to the Immigration and Naturalization Service or run the risk of civil disobedience by thousands of Latinos.

Nativo V. Lopez, national co-director of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, urged Anaheim City Council members to “put an end to the present policy which permits local Police Department cooperation with the INS. . . . We believe a reasonable timeline to wind down the operational aspects of this program will be 30 days.”

Earlier, he said his group will call for a Latino boycott of Orange County’s tourism industry, including Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland, unless the city stops allowing Border Patrol agents to interview suspects in minor crimes at the city jail to determine their legal status.

Lopez also told supporters that if the council does not act, they will return with 1,000 protesters in 30 days and continue protesting council meetings with growing numbers of demonstrators until the group accomplishes its goal.

As Lopez addressed the council, about 100 supporters in the audience rose and stood quietly. When he finished reading his statement, he left the room, with the group filing out behind him.

The volatile issue was ignited last month when an anti-immigration group asked the council to let Anaheim police enforce federal immigration laws, which no state or local law enforcement agency is empowered to do. The city did not act on the group’s request, nor did council members make any response to Lopez’s statement Tuesday.

Also fueling the heated debate was the arrest two weeks ago of Marcella Duque, 18, by Anaheim police. The woman, stopped for a traffic violation, was taken into custody when she failed to produce identification. At the city jail, a Border Patrol agent determined that she was an illegal immigrant and began deportation proceedings.

Duque is free, awaiting a deportation hearing before a federal magistrate.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Howard D. Garber of American Civil Responsibilities Union, a local group that lobbies against illegal immigration, endorsed empowering local police to enforce federal laws, though he said he was not proposing that “officers stop everyone in the street” to check for citizenship.

“I’m not a rabble-rouser,” he said. “I remember Anaheim when it was a totally different town, when we didn’t have graffiti.”

Resident Dave Kendrick also advocated continued cooperation between police and the INS, saying the City Council “owes citizens protection against illegal aliens and crime.”

Lopez’s remarks to the council were far less fiery than the speech he gave as he and supporters waited for the council to convene. In a combination pep talk and civics lesson, he told supporters they must protect their rights and reminded them about their historical ties to the American Southwest, which used to be Mexican territory.

“Today, we will launch a campaign to eliminate racist discrimination against Latinos,” he told the group in Spanish. He said the campaign, intended to be peaceful and honorable, will be called the Bert Corona Campaign in honor of Hermandad’s founder, who died last month.

Lopez said that the German founders of Anaheim stole lands formerly owned by Mexican citizens and alluded to Proposition 187, the anti-immigrant initiative limiting public services to undocumented aliens. The ballot measure passed but was later blocked by the courts.

“This is where Proposition 187 was born. This is where Proposition 187 will die,” he said to applause.

At one point, a white man waiting for the council meeting to begin yelled at Lopez: “Will you say that in English so we all can understand?”